Sure, it's easy to maintain the ignition system, but it's also a system that needs maintenance: spark plugs, batteries, distributor caps, and alternators are al

Sure, it's easy to maintain the ignition system, but it's also a system that needs maintenance: spark plugs, batteries, distributor caps, and alternators are all parts which wear out and need replacement during the normal course of vehicle operation. This is not true of pistons, crankshafts, and the like; it doesn't really matter that replacing them would be a difficult and expensive job, because they almost never break, and when they do you are generally better off just replacing the car and scrapping the old one. So, I think that an engine which had fewer of the former sort of components and more of the latter sort would, on balance, be a more reliable machine.